Tobaccos Cornell & Diehl - Cross Eyed Cricket

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2075)	2018-04-21		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Cornell & Diehl - Cross Eyed Cricket.

Some blends, like Mac Baren Virginia Flake, Wessex Burley Slice, or Fribourg & Treyer Cut Virginia Plug have a name which gives a pretty good idea of what type of smoke you'll receive. And then there's the likes of G. L. Pease Stonehenge Flake and Sam Gawith Cannon Plug; not as direct, but at least you know what construction to expect. So, Cross Eyed Cricket? LOL!

It's a very dark mixture, a touch too damp, and comprises well rubbed ribbons. The aroma makes clear that it's been flavoured with rum.

It takes easily to the flame and gives a decent burn: cool and slow. The description says Aromatic. Yes, it is, but don't expect something that could be used to begin the hobby with, it's one of the more hearty varieties of an aromatic. The tobaccos work well with one another, without any taking over. The Latakia's notable, yet not too astringent or harsh. I get a smoothness brought by the black Cavendish, which is the one ingredient which might make this more interesting to the newbie. The Perique and Orientals fill the smoke out, slightly counteracting the black Cav's plight to reduce the exuberance of the blend! The rum punch has a fruity, rummy, flavour, and is easy to taste. I get no tongue bite from beginning to end.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: quite pleasant.

Cross Eyed Cricket? Recommended:

Three Stars.

Pipe Used: Peterson Founders Edition

Age When Smoked: Stamped 10/24/17

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jevverrett (104)	2017-10-22		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I bought this one on a whim. The nice lady who owns the store went and branches out the selection bc I asked if she would. Like I said, nice lady. She bought this and a bunch of others bc she liked the tin art haha.

It’s mostly a dark brown cav in the tin. It has little bits of gold and darker leaf in there too though. Some of the chunks are huge with the cav, so it may need some fiddling. The note is heady. It has a musty, fruity, boozy smell it. Hints of lat are present. I didn’t want to risk ghosting my pipe, so I bought a 30$ basket billiard, that turned out to be a Milano under closer inspection.

It packs well, and takes a few lights to get going. I did like the flavor of it, it was too wet to start out with though. I ultimately left it open overnight and the next day it shone like the sun in comparison. The cav is mellow, the orientals are a suggestion, the lat is more than a suggestion and the perique is an important component. They tie together to make a well rounded blend that would be a nice all day smoke by itself.

The topping is where they get you. It adds a sweetness that is just short of obnoxious for non aromatic smokers. And the flavor adds a good deal of complexity to it also. It sort of reminds me of C&D Mississippi Mud, or Seattle pipe clubs potlatch. Aside from the rum, the punch is hard to figure out. I want to say it’s a mixture of cherry, berries, green apple and some kind of a citrus maybe. I didn’t think this would have had much to offer, but I was wrong.

I smoked the whole 2oz tin in three days lol. Not bad at all. It has a bit of something for everyone. Unless you hate Latakia anyway. It was a nice change of pace for me and gave my palate a bit of a rest from the strong, spicy leaf I normally enjoy. I would suggest trying this one, it may be as interesting for you as it was for me. It gave me something to think about as I smoked at work, which isn’t normal for me.

Pipe Used: Milano basket pipe from a b&m

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Whitfield tobacco

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2005-01-27		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

A very appropriately named blend. Cross-Eyed Crickett will indeed glaze the eyes and goober up your palate.

There is a topping in this dark and moist ribbon cut leaf that boasted a liquor like flavor. It was tough to keep lit and burning. A mild tobacco/nicotine presentation as well. Still, the overall presentation was good and I'm not sure why. Just one of those blends that not only crosses the eyes and palate, but the brain as well.

As another review indicated, it was difficult to identify any particular component other than the Perique.

Okay, so what are this tobacco's endearing qualities? There are none. (IMO, of course.)

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	codyp (65)	2014-01-31		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

You don't really understand why this blend is named as such, until you get yourself a tin. First thoughts when lighting it is definitely the room note. The rum punch they give it is something I haven't seen before. It even over powers the latakia. The taste was different as well, but very nice.

The strength was your average C & D medium to light english. It burns cool as always, and can be pretty lengthy depending on how you pack it.

I would recommend this blend to anyone looking for a outside the box kind of blend.

Pipe Used: Peterson System (Bent), Cob

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LivingFreeinTN (24)	2017-06-06		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I absolutely love the fact that the pipe snobs have panned this tobacco. It ensures it will never be on back order like the dog crap in a tin, Penzance. This tobacco is a good English with some sweetness added. It is perfection in a pipe bowl to me. Convincing the self appointed pipe elite of this fact is like trying to convince cigar snobs that there are better cigars than Cuban cigars out there. They'll never listen, despite the overwhelming evidence.

Pipe Used: Dagner cob

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: smkingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stinkypipe (155)	2017-01-13		Extremely Mild	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I can see why this cricket is cross eyed. I simply don't understand this blend. Perhaps I received a "bad" tin. I have tried this five times. It gets worse each time I try it. Room note is fine and mixture was damp but not wet. Light up was ok and burned fairly cool. Then the issues began. The taste was simply terrible....very strongly bitter and left a film in my mouth. The aftertaste caused me to seek mouthwash. I just don't understand this blend as all I ever get is a bitter taste. C&D makes good blends and perhaps this is just a bad tin but this is bout the worst aromatic I have ever tried.

Pipe Used: Peterson P-lip

Age When Smoked: Couple of weeks

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2014-06-21		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Ribbon cut leaning towards dark brown in color with some flecks of medium brown. Musty tin aroma with the sweetened booze casing coming through clearly, if not necessarily loudly. I did not smoke a fresh tin so I have no idea what aging did to this - I scored an aged tin cheap so I decided to take the plunge.

The taste of this is a bit unusual. There is no pure Virginia or burley as the base but rather the "rum punch" Cavendish provides the foundation. As with this tobacco, the latakia is noticeable but not prominent. The orientals and perique are way to the rear and appear to do little but keep this from being just a flavored latakia blend. Very occasionally they would rise up a tad but never threatened to make this a democracy. To me the strength of this one is the flavoring in that it doesn't assert itself too much but rather provides some sweetness to a blend that really doesn't distinguish itself overall. Consider smoking a blend that is just sort of present but that you find mostly tedious. Then add a bit of pleasant sweet flavoring to it to jazz it up. That's CEC and if that interests you, here you go.

Pipe Used: meerschaum

Age When Smoked: 14 years

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Laserboy (16)	2013-03-16		Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I truly love so much of what Cornell and Diehl has to offer (and they're really great folks). So the disgust that this blend stirs in me is more than a bit surprising. But I guess that's alright since one of C. and D.'s strengths, as a company, is its eagerness to suit every taste with its own niche blend rather than attempting to make a single blend that suits everyone. Which, in turn, leads me to infer that _somewhere_ there is someone who loves this stuff, and to that person I send my best wishes.

As for me, I had a tin of this weed open for more than two years. I tried a bowl and found it to be like smoking Hawaiian Punch (the red kind), but not in the good way (is there a good way?). Instead of the harmonious blending of rich flavors that I get from other C. and D. blends in which each taste supports and enhances the others, in Cricket the flavors clash in a cacophany of nastiness. Over the course of two years, I tried the stuff over and over, each time hoping that I'd find something about it to like, and each time I got the same horror. After more than two years, with about 1/4 of the tin remaining, a carpeting of mold appeared on what was left and I finally had an excuse to toss the thing out. I have subsequently tried Cricket several more times, at pipe shows, just in case I'd gotten a bad tin. But, no, they're all bad.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kraft1994 (54)	2014-01-27		Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I'm Confused. Thats all that can be said for this blend. The tin note smells like fruit punch with a slight whiff of latakia. As for the flavor, It tastes like a well done mild english blend with a little something else appearing from time to time. That something else is the fruit punch casing. In the flavor it adds a lovely fruity note that complements the blend in an odd yet delightful way. Room note wise, It smells amazing. The fruit punch overpowers the latakia in the room note. Is it an aromatic or a english? I have no clue. In some odd inconceivable way its both. Either way there is something about the blend I really like. So for me, Its a keeper.

Pipe Used: Cob

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Capt (339)	2011-08-01		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

A truly unique offering from C&D. It doesn't matter if you like English or aromatics, this is something you will just have to try for yourself to determine if this one is for you. The English blend behind this is fabulous, I'd be curious to know which blend they use as the base. The claim of rum punch is true, a Hawaiian Punch type aroma. Burns and packs decent, burns clean throughout the entire smoke.

Curious? Try it, you may just enjoy it!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tom Servo (58)	2011-03-29		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tin aroma is somewhere between kosher blackberry wine and cherry cough medicine, with a background aroma of smoky Latakia, and flowery oriental notes. I couldn't catch the scent of Perique from the tin, but it did sneak out in the smoking. Packs easy, lights OK. Burns well and cool. I usually smoke natural tobacco blends, but I'm not one of those guys that scoffs at aromatics. This blend is very pleasant. I perfect diversion from taking yourself too seriously.

Fruity flavors dilute as the bowl progresses. About a quarter of the way into the pipe, it did remind me of those fruity, syrupy rum drinks they're always handing you on cruises. The spice tobaccos reach through the casing, clearly discernable underneath the Luden's Cough Drops and blackberry wine. The lighter dose of casing, and the fine tobaccos being allowed to show themselves, make this a fun and interesting smoke.

My only complaint is the strength is a little on the weak side. And in my opinion, the whole thing could have benefited from a dose of matured Virginia to prop up the Cavendish and whip the berries into shape.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-01-12		Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium	Tolerable

Like smoking a bag of ass mixed with unsweetened Kool-Aid.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	wintermute (90)	2008-08-12		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Strong

First of all, let me say as much positive about this tobacco as I can. The moisture level in the tin is perfect. It packs well and lights with just one match. The smoke remains consistent throughout the bowl. It burns down to a clean white ash. There is no tongue bite. The tobacco is of an obvious high quality. Those are all of the positive things I can think of! Upon lighting, the rum punch flavor rushes out and never looks back. For comparison, let us say that the flavoring added is like stewed prunes. I have never actually tasted that dish, but this must surely be what it is like! The other tobaccos are very nice and the latakia is smooth as silk, but the rum punch runs the show. It never stops running the show. I smoke a lot of aromatics and I can safely say that this stuff is more sour than sweet. The aroma is that of baked prunes. Again, I've never tried them that way, but... The nicotine level is low for me and the pipe is flavored with the above-mentioned rum punch for days and days. I am fortunate that I only sacrificed a couple of cobs to try this stuff. Cornell & Diehl usually put out nothing but quality. And, the tobacco in the tin was certainly quality, but the rum punch drowns them out. I am not sure I will even finish the tin I purchased! And, for what tins are costing these days, that's saying something for me!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RCUSElder (244)	2003-05-02		Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium	Pleasant

When I opened the tin of this "stuff", it reminded me of the cheap generic cough-syrup my mom would give me back in the late 70's. This blend has to be the most distasteful aromatic I have ever tried. I tried two bowlfuls and I could almost hear my pipe cry out in pain that I subjected it to this, whatever you want to call it.In fact,I should have known better because it made me cross-eyed just smelling it in the tin! This is definitely a blend that does not work for me, I cannot see how anyone could enjoy this stuff. What is worse,this blend left a terrible aftertatse in my mouth that ruined my ability to smoke anything else for the rest of the day. Thank God there are other C& D blends to enjoy.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	1979 (62)	2017-08-29		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Cornell & Diehl - Cross Eyed Cricket.

I'm looking at this blend as being in a similar vein to the old school classic American smoking mixtures of a couple generations ago (e.g. Revelation, Country Doctor, etc) in that it's basically an English blend of sorts with a topping that gives it something else.  But it's composition is different enough from any of those to put this one in a class by itself.

The rum punch flavoring is noticeable throughout but its fruityness is not always distinguishable.  The base tobaccos beneath are musty and smoky with a bit of spice.  This tobacco base reminds me of a more strongly musty version of C&D's Mississippi Mud.  Occasionally I feel that the mustiness of the base and top flavoring clash a bit, but for the far most part it works and the mixture as a whole smokes very smoothly.  It does take some effort to get lit but rarely needs a relight once it's going good in my experience.  A unique blend that I have to be in just the right mood for, and although I have yet to do this it seems like it would be a very good blend to puff away on while fishing, camping or woodworking.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Alparoleofficer (10)	2015-01-21		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Tolerable

This is my second english blend and upon opening the tin, the aroma set me back because it smelled so strong. I almost dreaded lighting my pipe, but I did and found the tobacco to actually be quite smooth. I picked up some very light latakia, but the perique is definetly there. Overall the flavoring is very light and will become a break from my usual aromatics.

Pipe Used: Cob

Age When Smoked: 5 Months

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-08-23		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It is truly almost every genre you can think of put into one tobacco. You would think it would be overwhelming, but it is actually quite balanced and pleasant to smoke. The dominance lies in its english/oriental portion, with hints of tropical aromatic flavor fading in and out.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ELF (40)	2010-02-21		Very Mild	Medium	Mild	Tolerable to Strong

Cornell + Diehl :Are one of the finest blenders of tobacco(second only to McClelland...in my opinion) There are very"few"modern(within the last 15yrs)tobacco blenders that are NOT Afraid to try new combinations;I have caught myself on more than one occasion reading the Description on C+D blends...going NO-WAY that combo will never work. Always a very pleasant surprise;regardless of C+D's blend. As a matter of fact there are Truly "No Blends"from C+D that i can say that i"dislike";some i prefer more than others....So If you are looking for something truly UNIQUE/C+D...any blend is worth a try! THIS one happens 2b MY FAVORITE !!! :+)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	elelion (25)	2008-12-28		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This is my very first review on tobaccoreviews.com. I ordered this tobacco online only because it has an interesting name. My father likes cricket, so I said to myself: why not giving this tobacco a try?

The tin was opened three days ago, I smoked it with my Karl Erik freehand pipe. It may require some lights at the beginning, and once it is lit, it is easily burned through the bowl, giving adequate tamping from time to time of course.

The flavory is excellent. This is so far the first Latakia tobacco I smoked and I like it very much. This will absolutely be on my next purchase list. Highly recommended when you watch a videos and would like to have something to smoke.

=== Updated on 28th Dec. 2008. ===

Ok, I have had some second thoughts about this blend. I have finished most of the tin. But the pleasure that I have had during my first bowl is gone. Now it seems a little more spicy than before. Maybe because the leaves are not well mixed. When I packed my first bowl there were only large leaves but there are littles ones hidden beneath the huge-leaf layers. Perique I assume? It is still good tobacco and is good to enjoy a bowl from time to time, but it definetly will not be my everyday blend any more.

Downgraded to 3 stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Redd (117)	2007-05-10		Medium to Strong	Extra Strong	Full	Strong

Just like they say an Engish Aromatic. Very Different!!!!!!! Fruity punch bowl flavor with the zesty english flavoring. Fun smoke with a pleasant aroma. GOOD STUFF Get a Tin now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	huffnpuff (53)	2006-03-02		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I bought this blend because its sound funny and the picture is cool. when I opened my tin and took off the disc and remove the coffee filter paper, I got an aroma of cough syrup.So I was in doubt about the smoke and I tryed anyway . When lighting the smoke was clean and punchy like the hawian punch my mom made at partys and I was glad to try it .My wife test passed .Cornell and Diehl brand should try more latakia/aromatic blends cause they made this one work.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2003-11-07		Mild to Medium	Extra Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Summer 2003 the hottest I can remember, all those latakia blends did,nt seem right. Routing in the closet I found a tin of crossed eyed cricket been in their for a while. Light rum punch it said . Just the job I thought. On opening the light rum punch nearly knocked me out and I had not even put it in a pipe. Thought I better use the rum blend pipe. Upon lighting the rum punch again dominated then it settles down to a great english with full rum punch top. Great just the thing for those long hot summer days.

Next day I got in from work and the whole house smelt of the "light "rum punch flavour. Pop Pourri forget it . Get a tin of this stuff. In 24 hours the "light" rum punch had contaiminated the Barbary coast in the rum humidor. I know burly soaks up flavours but cross eyed cricket smothers everything. It was then banished to a jar in solitary confinement.

This is a great blend for summer heat . But it has taken a good 20 bowls of strong VA to rid it from the rum pipe and it still haunts the solitary confinement jar . With a half life longer than plutonium an unforgettable blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2003-09-19		Medium	Very Strong	Very Full	Strong

Wow! This is a unique tobacco. Schizophrenic comes to mind. Of all tobaccos in my collection, this is heads above all others in intensity of aroma. It makes other "strong" aromatics like Erinmore pale in comparison. I typically store several opened tins at once in larger quasi-airtight containers. In this case, I had to quarantine Cross-Eyed Cricket by removing it from its tin and storing it in a baby-food jar with a tight fitting lid. The plastic lid on the flimsy tin could not contain the intense aroma. I also put some X-eyed Cricket in a film cannister for portability purposes and it perfumes the whole drawer I keep it in. Also, it seems a lot more "punchy" than "rummy", kind of like snorting Kool-aid crystals with perique, God forbid! What a weird combination.

But this is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a true aromatic. It also has a strong english style. I have a hard time finding a pipe I want to smoke this in, because it would contaminate either a pipe dedicated to aromatics or a pipe dedicated to latakia mixtures. I end up using a kind of wierd, off-brand briar that I am not that attached to.

Now, my issue with this blend is not that I can't tolerate latakia/perique or aromatics. Indeed, I thoroughly enjoy both. I have approached this blend several times thinking I could get both appetites met at once. My problem is that this is just too dang intense! Since others have not commented on the intensity of the aroma/flavoring, I wonder if I got a double-dosed batch or something. Must be that the cavendish really soaks up the flavoring. I know that I could leave open to air out, but it is already fairly dry, and a lot of the good tobacco flavors would also volatilize at the same time.

At any rate, I will not replace this tin when I finish it, unless I happen to sample someone else's tin and it comes across differently. It would be interesting to try this blend without the perique, which is the element that seems to clash most with the added flavoring. This product suggests strongly that you cannot have it both ways.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pounder 5000 (178)	2003-04-21		Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant

What a trip!!! This is far and away the most interesting smoke that I have experienced so far. I wasn't sure how I would like it based on the description but I'm glad I tried it. I love latakia blends, but I'm not a big fan of aromatics (except for Mephisto!), so I opened this tin with trepidation. I am fond of Bow Legged Bear, so I had to try it especially after seeing the tin. Opening the bag inside the tin didn't really help much either. It smelled like the tobacco was flavored with something a drunk, college chick drank at a frat party and then vomited all over the tobacco. Well maybe I exaggerate a little, but not much. Seriously, the rum punch they describe is in full effect here, and the mingling with latakia is probably not for everyone. I persevered however and got it loaded into a corn cob and put it to the match. Wow! Much better now. This is a very eccentric blend, but far from bad. In fact, I think this would be great for a latakia fix in the summertime heat when I just can't get into them normally. The flavor stays light and never gets to be too much. In fact, in the second third of the bowl, the flavoring simmers way down and the perique starts to assert itself with a little spiciness that keeps things interesting. It seems to me that all C&D blend are made with quality leaf, and whether you like them or not they are always well blended. The flavors move along seemlessly with the latakia always remaining in the back ground with a pleasant smokiness, and the unsweetened cavendish providing a nice full base. The turkish never really came to my attention much, but the way this blend stays so nicely complete, I'm sure it plays its part somewhere. The room note was appreciated by smokers and non-smokers alike. This blend came on the drier side, just the way I like it. I think this would be a good blend to recomend to a beginner or aromatic smoker who wants to try latakia. Just be sure to point out that this is not an English Blend- just one with latakia! All said and done this is certainly not a smoke that I could smoke everyday but will make a nice change of pace now and again.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rev. Smoke (24)	2002-08-13		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I had to run to the kitchen when I opened the tin and smell the kid's Fruity Pebbles for comparison rum punch??? Whatever that is! Call me crazy! It does pack easily, and takes to a match very quickly, burning evenly, dry and smooth. This is one where the room note and the flavor are a bit different. Whispering seductively, the fruit note hints at the sour side, while the perique and Latakia boldly assert their distinctive flavors. It is in the room note where the fruit finds itself very captivating. I found it very interesting that the fruit punch - kind of like a tropical fruity rum drink - is predominant in the room note.

Hey, if you enjoy an aromatic blend, but want to venture into the world of Latakia and/or Perique, here is a pleasant diversion. Of course, if you are an English devotee, but also a closet aromatic smoker, give this a try - others will be glad of your change of pace and you will not be disappointed either.

2.5 out of 5 halos.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2001-03-27		Medium	Strong	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Let me start off by saying that this is by far my favorite tobacco... err, NAME. I just love the name Cross Eyed cricket; hell i like it even more than Bow-legged Bear. If you promise not to tell anyone, I'll tell ya a secret. Ok, ya promise? Good.....I even considered (ok, very briefly) getting the damn stoned cricket tattooed on my butt. Alas, sanity returned and I am very grateful I didn't do that prior to smoking this crap. Ok, ok,so it's not crap...it is a quality tobacco and I can see how some people could be very into it. I'm just not one of them. Let me say that, due to my being enamored by the name and tin image, I really, REALLY wanted to like this tobacco. Even after giving it several tries I just can't do it. Sure there are some qualities I like. first it has a wonderful burning quality, as do many of C&D blends. It also looks pretty, a dark tobacco with some wonderful shades of tan, brown, black and substantially an odd blue-ish tint. Unfortunately, to me it tastes like that children's shampoo that comes in the Winnie the Poo shaped bottle, er, or at least what I'd imagine that stuff tastes like. Even though I know there is some fine tobacco in this blend, I just can't seem to get past the soapy/shampoo taste. It also seems to leave a bit of a ghost in my pipes. I had to run a few bowls of Old Ironsides through the two pipes I smoked XEC in to excorcise it's demons.

My advice is: definitely try this stuff. Really. It is unique (to say the least) plus that tin looks pretty cool (especially when empty -LOL). Hell, you may even like it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2001-03-26		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Strong

This is the first aromatic English blend I experienced, and one of only two I've ever tried, GLP Mephisto being the other. If these two are any indication of the type as a whole, I need to look around for other similar blends! As is usual with C&D aromatics, this blend's casing odor is far more intense than its flavor. Opening the tin, I see that the tobacco is packed in a vacuum-sealed clear bag, though the casing odor is clearly present even before this is opened. The tobacco itself is very dry, as usual with C&D, and appears to be a mostly dark-colored blend, with a small amount of lighter brown mixed in. The smell is VERY strong when the bag is cut open. I added a small amount of distilled water to the bag with a sprayer, as I normally do with C&D blends; I prefer a somewhat damper tobacco. After sitting for a few days to equalize, I choose a Savinelli second 1/8 bent bulldog to test the blend in. It packs fairly easily, and lights easily, too. The casing flavor is fairly strong at first, though nowhere NEAR as strong as the odor! Even in the first third of the bowl, however, the taste and odor of Latakia is obviously present, and the rest of the tobaccos in the blend are not overwhelmed either. This is a blend that is very good blown out through the nose. By the second third of the bowl, the flavor of the casing has diminished quite a bit, and the Latakia is the predominant taste. The casing stays present, however, giving bursts of flavor that mix well with the excellent tobacco without overwhelming it. So far, the bowl has burned well, needing roughly the average number of relights. In the last third, the flavors of tobacco continue to mix and interact very well, with the casing finally giving up towards the bottom. Very little moisture is present at the bottom; the little that IS there may be due to my addition of water earlier. Overall, this is an excellent change of pace for those who like light aromatics and English blends, but detest the normal aromatic problems. It leaves a great room odor too! With a high-quality, well-blended tobacco base, I can easily see this becoming one of my regular smokes, especially in mixed company that might not appreciate Dunhill 965-style blends.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rocnetomidate (2)	2023-03-12		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Wow. This is an aptly named blend. I was very unsure about this one when I opened it. The tin note was a sickly sweet fruit puch aroma, to the point I wondered if it was a good idea even lighting it up. I am really glad I persisted. The room note is fairly neutral, but I could definitely see people raising a crooked eyebrow mostly out of curiosity for what the hell is in the bowl. The flavor was really wild. There is greater balance between the cav and the topping than one expects which makes for an okay taste in itself. But then, they get enveloped in the richness of the orientals and makes the smoke really full bodied. This blend seems to be a love-it or hate-it kind of affair, and I would cetainly see why some folks don't care for it. I do recommend at least sampling a bowl if you can. Like it or not it is certainly unique.

Pipe Used: Morgan Bones

Age When Smoked: 6 mo.

Purchased From: Edward's Pipes and Tobacco // Denver CO

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	fountainpens&pipes (3)	2022-11-14		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

A few steps up from completely foul. I can tolerate a bowl here and there, but its one of those tobaccos i have to be in the mood for. The natural flavors of the tobacco are completely drowned by whatever the manufacturer refers to as "rum punch" casing. Latakia and english style blends should be left to their own devices IMHO. The tin note was good and it gave me high hopes for the flavor profile, but I was ultimatley dissapointed by a perfumey fruit taste that almost felt like it was laying down an oil slick in my mouth. I thought the room note was alright, my wife didn't have anything nice to say. I'll let this one hang out in a mason jar for at least the next six months before i try it again.

Pipe Used: Savinelli 614

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Pipes&Cigars

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Chiefin (3)	2019-01-09		Mild to Medium	Mild	Full	Tolerable to Strong

I found this tobacco to be albeit stinky from the start .was a little moist out of the tin.with some drying time and the right packing burns good. Keeps me coming back..it is one of those blends its it's own class..heard good things about black frigate

Pipe Used: Gbd savage

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Fat ash

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-08-17		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

A surprisingly sweet tobacco. The rum tops off this robust English blend. A reliable standby for me.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-06-06		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant

I bought a tin of the Cricket this winter from a local tobaccanist. I probably would not have otherwise considered it, but the tin was dated 10/21/04. Even though I usually can't get enough flavor from an aromatic tobacco to make it worth my while, this one was different. It had a nice sweet flavor from the rum punch topping. Maybe the perceived taste and quality was because of its age? I just finished a bowl in a Peterson Return of Sherlock Holmes Hudson (bulldog), and it was a good match. Recommomended, at least if you can get you hands on a 7-year-old tin.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-02-27		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I just got my latest order of bacci in the mail consisting of 5 new bacs I never tried before.Only 2 of them I liked and this was at the top of the list.I consider this an english as the rum flavoring is a bit on the light side for me.But I realy realy enjoyed it.If you like english and want to try something with a little taste of aromatic...this is the one to try.And if you like aromatics and what to try something thats not 100% english thgis is for you.2 thumbs up C&D has a winner here.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-11-18		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Pure fun in a tin! A really different crossover blend. It has a solid English base with the addition of fruit punch as the flavoring.This will appeal to those who appreciate Shortcut to Mushrooms, Gotham Court, and Irish Aromatic. You can't go wrong as long as you know what you are getting into. A solid 3 crossover stars!

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-08-30		Medium	Very Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

If you love aromatics, you might like this. If you do not like aros, steer clear!!!

It is not a crossover like the tin will tell you. Maybe it is a crossover in a sense that I do not understand such as production technique, but it is an all out aro in flavor.

I only bought this because it was on sale. I would normally not try anything that I thought might be an aro except Autumn Evening which is the only aro that I have liked.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-06-13		Mild to Medium	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Strong

What on God's green earth were they thinking when they made this? This is by far the worst tasting (and smelling) stuff (imo). I'm not sure where they get rum punch.....it is certainly not rum punch

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-09-10		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Lifes a journey right? So Cross eyed cricket is one of those truck stops you have to visit from time to time.... on blaze up, The room turns into a jamacian tourist trap...Very rum punchy. The flavor is there too- but not as strong as you might think considering the note. All in all its a fun smoke- I keep some for going out to dinner. Its fun to light up before your meal with cocktails and watch people look for the source of the smell. Not in a bad way- most people I have encountered smile and go back to what they were doing once I'm discovered. Its fun and its tasty- Like an ice cream...Try it...

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-04-21		Medium to Strong	Strong	Full	Pleasant

First of all, it is great to see this site so active! Second, this tobacco is proof positive that I am a bit schizophrenic or a Sadomasochist. I love this stuff!

It has changed a bit over the years, Cornell & Diehl has changed packaging also, my first tin of this was in a brass colored tin with the ?coffee filter?, the second two tins came with a 16mm film canister with a vacuum sealed bag (traded for a tin of McCranie?s ?83 red ribbon) and now the tin is like the one McClelland?s use. Also, this use to be a pressed cake form (have an old tin to prove it) now it is a ribbon. The one thing that hasn?t changed?the tobaccos (however it seems to have more Turkish and less Latakia) and ?lightly flavored with rum punch? topping.

Now for the review, this is heavily cased in a fruit punch concoction that has a musty smell from the Latakia and a spice from the Perique when the tin is opened. However, the smoking qualities are a bit different. When you first light this, the palate and room is overwhelmed by the fruity nature of the casing and the Turkish leaps out at you. (At least in the latest blend tin; labeled on the bottom as #120705 I guess that means it was tinned 07/05?) Then you get a very tasty smoke down to about the halfway point if you smoke it quickly you will get bitten so in that respect I cannot give this four stars. Then this morphs into a wicked Perique war on the senses, spice, nicotine and a clearing of the punch with a whole separate punch. The smoke finished with a mottled grey and dark grey ash with absolutely no ?goop?.

This is a pipe tobacco that in my opinion has to be tried by all aromatic smokers, but the pure VA and English smokers might want to try this as a change of pace or to please the ladies.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-10-28		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

This leaf is the Moby Dick of tobacco, it is an annomoly. I admit that being a lover of straight VA's I am probably biased to them but I do venture into English and Orientals occasionally. I enjoy Penzance very much. As well as Nightcap. And I enjoyed Cross Eyed Cricket. I think this weed is just plain fun in a can, nothing to be taken very seriously, just leaves to burn for the fun of being able to enjoy fruit punch in a bowl! Really, the strength of the casing isn't that powerful. I'm sure it will impart the flavoring in the cake and pipe though, so I smoke this in my junk pipes, but its fun nonetheless. I was just amazed that this weed didn't disgust me!

Update: What a fun blend. There are some that will disagree, but what fun is that?

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-04-18		Mild	Strong	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

From the tin, it has the cork-like scent of latakia mixed with a fruity flavour that reminds me of a stick of Big Red gum. Unlike many other fruity tobaccos, this one is complex in its combination of flavours. In the pipe the mildly sweet flavour of vanilla cavendish, rich latakia and mellow fruit-punch fluidly intertwine with each other. Smoked slowly, it will change from pleasantly fruity, to sweet vanilla, to a mellow latakia taste. None of the flavours overpower the other, but constantly blend together to provide a long, cool smoke that doesn't get boring or repulsive. This mild and complex tobacco burns well and doesn't bite the tongue.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-04-11		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

There are no words to express the horror that is cross eyed cricket. I know this is suppoded to be a "hybrid" blend, an aromatic latakia. However, there is nothing good, exciting, fun or enjoyable here. This is like a bad experience people repress and rightfully so.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-06-20		Mild	Extra Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I tried Cross Eyed Cricket after receiving a sample from a friend. I am grateful to him for keeping me from wasting my money.

This is a very unusual blend. It's supposed to be a crossover blend, but the only tobacco flavor that actually clawed its way through the topping was the Perique. The other tobaccos may as well not even be there.

The topping is strong. And really wierd. Rum punch? Well, maybe not in the flavor, but I guess it could be that in the room note, which I think would be popular with non-pipesmokers.

If this is a crossover, it must be a crossover from aromatics to super-aromatics. I was expecting more of an English aromatic. I was disappointed.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-05-29		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I'm on my second tin, noticing that this time it comes without being in the plastic bag it was in the first time. Also, and this may be subjective, the so-called mild aromatic rum aroma seems a bit more subdued, which is the only suggestion I would have made if any. One obvious way to make that sweetness lighter also is to combine this with a tin of Mississippi Mud, which is basically the same thing sans rum aromatic. However, I like both and I think the sum of the parts would be less, so to speak. I like the flavor, which was described by an earlier reviewer like a cheap cough syrup, which in a way could be a good way to describe it. However, adding the spice and pepper of latakia and perique to a sweetness that's less pronounced as the smoke progresses makes for a pleasant afternoon smoke. The burn qualities are good for an aromatic, but I would reserve a pipe for it's use and not use it for just any in your collection, it will leave it's signature. This is an aromatic for those who don't like aromatics like me, and worth a try at least once. I'm finding that the flavor mellows as the blend dries out a bit, and that makes it even better.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-02-18		Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

Simply put, I find this tobacco to be revolting. It's the fastest way I know of to foul a pipe and your taste buds. Stay far far away from this nasty concoction.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-02-13		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I was given some of this to try from a friend. My initial smoking experience with this was not good. For some reason I smoked a couple more bowls of this and it grew on me a little. It is definately worth a try for those seeking something totally differant. I could smoke this once in a while but I probably wont keep any more on hand when it runs out.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2003-09-05		Medium	Strong	Medium	Tolerable

I was curious to try this blend because I have recently discovered a few Latakia blends that I enjoyed smoking that contain Cavendish or additional flavoring. This however was not one of them. The tin aroma was funky. I did not get any of the fruit scent that others have mentioned or that is described on the tin. The flavor was funky as well. I did not detect anything that resembled fruit or any desirable sweetness. It had a medicinal, alomost moth-ball-like quality to it. I took three puffs from my meerschaum and dumped the rest out. My meerschaum has been left with that funk just from having the tobacco in it and taking three puffs. I'm letting it rest before smoking it again right away so it can air out.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2002-08-05		Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Upon opening the tin, i find this blend to be moister than most C&D tobaccos, probably from the dressing, but not too moist, the smell is immediately fruity and upon closer sniffage a nice Latakia smell.

The tobacco, packe nicely into my bent apple and lit immediatly, after tamping i only had to rilight twice to keep it lit.

This is surprisingly good, you can definately taste both flavors the rum punch and the Latakia, and they blend really nicely. If you havent tried it yet do so i think you'll be surprised by how good the combination works highly reccomended.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2002-07-31		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

Only from the Tarheel State could a tobacco named Cross-Eyed Cricket, that tastes like Cross-Eyed Cricket come. It is just plain fun tobacco, that happens to be very good tobacco. This is one blend with Turkish that did not declare war on me. A beautiful dark mostly dark ribbon; it stays very moist in the tin for some time. I suspect that is due to the salad dressing applied to it. The flavour is, well is.....just plain different. Fruity, sweet, but not overpowering. After burning for a bit, you start to notice that under the candy store there is some very good tobacco, the Latakias especialy shine I think. Overall this is a tobacco that everyone should try at least once. It is so different as to defy real classification, yet somehow pleasant.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2002-04-24		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This has to be one of the top novelty tobaccos of all time. Cross-Eyed Cricket is so unique that most folks will probably either love it or hate it. I had many folks comment on the aroma (all found it to be pleasant), and the fruity, sweet taste was enjoyable, but I'm not sure I'd smoke this very often. I'd definitely call this one an aromatic, although is has an english quality about it too.

This is quality tobacco (a little on the dry side), and the burn is what you'd expect from high-quality tobacco. If your adventurous I'd say try this one for the novelty factor, if for no other reason, but as others have stated, you might want to try one of your least used pipes, since the flavor will taint the taste for a few smokes.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2002-01-17		Mild to Medium	Very Strong	Medium	Pleasant

This one is a highly flavored tobacco that is fun to smoke just becasue it is so weird . It's on my top five list of bizarre tobaccos . Be careful as the flavor wil taint a pipe for many smokes afterwards . I'd try it in a cob first if you're just curious , and dedicate a pipe to it if you decide you like it .

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2001-12-11		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

General Comment for All C&D Blends. So far, all my samples have burned clean and dry. They contain quality ingredients. If purchased fresh from C&D, I find that I must adjust the moisture content, and let them rest for 3-6 months before sampling. They change flavor dramatically in just a few months.

In my first review of this blend, I found it to be too aromatic. I could not taste the tobacco as the rum addition overwhelmed the blend. I have since let the blend rest for a few more months, and let it get almost bone dry. Then I re-moistened it. Most of the "cricket" had evaporated, and now it tastes more like an English blend with a rum addition rather than a bowl full of rum with something in it. If you can get it to this state, it may be of interest to those looking for an English crossover with an aromatic. I would not mind smoking this now and then, but I prefer other crossovers from C&D like Pennington Gap which uses bourbon rather than rum.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2001-11-28		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

this is an interesting tobacco, an aromatic that thinks it's an english blend. it has a pleasant room aroma, without the syrupy sweet taste that so many experienced smokers find objectionable. this would be an ideal tobacco for a smoker whose wife loathes the aroma of heavy latakia blends. might let you bring your pipe back in the house and avoid marital discord! like all the C&D blends i have tried, this one has good packing and burn characteristics. the taste i would describe as a very mild english blend that would be a good cross-over from aromatics. when i first tried cross-eyed cricket, i was very impressed. then i found other blends i liked even better, which prevents me from scoring it higher. don't automatically pass this one by because it doesn't have a 4-star rating. for many smokers, with varied tastes and intolerant wives, this could be a real winner. 3 stars.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2001-03-26		Mild to Medium	Very Strong	Medium	Strong

I have tried this tobacco once on purpose, and a second time by accident. This tobacco comes fairly dry -typical C&D fashion, and really doesn't smell too bad in the tin. At this point, Cross-Eyed Cricket has potential to be a decent aromatic tobacco. Packing this tobacco is a little more difficult due to the dry state of the tobacco, but it lights up fine once packed. From there it goes downhill. I am instantly struck by the taste and smell of SOAP. This tobacco has the taste of soap for the entire bowl. It burns down cleanly, but I just cannot get past the flavour of Lifeboy in my pipe.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2001-03-19		Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

This is a crossover blend much like C&D’s Brigadier, combining a flavoring with a Latakia blend. The blend is based on unsweetened Black Cavendish, with Turkish, Latakia, and Perique. Its rum punch flavoring smells nearly as strong as Brigadier’s in the tin, only less fruity--if the topping was applied lightly, I sure wouldn't want to smoke anything that got a full dose of it! The combination of flavors can be jarring, as the rum punch flavoring fights it out with the Latakia. But this blend’s flavoring is more restrained than Brigadier and it has much less punch in terms of nicotine. The room aroma is a notch lighter as well, though there’s still a good bit of Latakia in the aroma. It actually works pretty well as an aromatic English. I would recommend this to someone who likes full flavored aromatics and would like to try a Latakia blend, though I don’t know if hard-core English smokers would care for this.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2001-02-25		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Overwhelming

This one is a real surprise to find on this list, because I don't normally like aromatics and this one is very much so. It's totally different from every other tobacco on this list, and is such a unique taste experience that I'd urge anyone to try it at least once, just for the experience. According to the tin, it is flavored with "rum punch", whatever that might be, but in smoking it produces a very friendly and flavorfully sweet taste, with an almost tangy flavor. It reminds me of some mad combination of tangy candy and fruit punch... which normally would make me gag to think of as a tobacco blend, but this one doesn't. In fact, it's tremendously enjoyable, and one of the first tobaccos I'd reach for to give to the beginning smoker. It does turn a bit moist on me as I near the bottom of a large bowl, but it's very well mannered indeed compared to most aromatics out there. Worth mentioning is the great smelling smoke, which not only pleases crowds but sometimes makes them ask for more!

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